


Here for Every Sunrise

by orphan_account



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Drabble, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-19
Updated: 2013-05-19
Packaged: 2017-12-12 08:02:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/809220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A chess match between River Song and the Doctor results in a journey the Doctor never wanted to take,  and a promise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Here for Every Sunrise

**Author's Note:**

> Make sure you've watched "The Name of the Doctor" and the minisode "Last Night" before reading!

This was a battle of wits.  
This was a battle between two great minds—two minds that knew more than they should.  
It was a battle that, like many of their battles, whether as allies or as enemies, would go unrecorded in the history books, untold by the mouths of men or of any species.  
It was a battle they would keep secret.  
It was a chess match between Professor River Song and the Doctor.  
Yes, he has participated in chess matches whose stakes included the fates of hundreds of worlds and thousands of people.  
But this match had a special sort of gravity to it.  
Because he had an opponent he might lose to.  
**  
“Oh, Doctor, come now!” River says. She leans back in her chair and crosses her arms over her chest. Her legs are crossed, a smile pressed onto her lips, and her eyes are glittering. She is dressed nicely in a dark green dress.  
The Doctor sits across from her on the other side of the chess board. He leans over the game, his eyes flittering from piece to piece like a beetle. His hand is curled into a fist, which covers his lip with his elbow resting against the table. He changes position often with his legs, one second they are crossed at both the knees and ankles and the next they are splayed open wide.  
“Don’t think too hard about it, Doctor. It’s only a game. It doesn’t matter if you win or lose.” River runs her hand through her curly hair.  
“Yes, it does matter,” the Time Lord replies simply. “It does matter because if I lose to you I don’t think I’ll be able to live with myself anymore.”  
She leans forward. “If you think your life hitches so greatly on this chess match and its outcome, then you are definitely going to win, aren’t you?”  
His eyes flickered to her. “You are a crafty woman. I didn’t know you even played chess.”  
She shrugs. “Well, when you’re stuck in a cell for five years you have to entertain yourself in ways your wouldn’t normally consider, don’t you?”  
The Doctor sighs. He presses his finger on his knight and works out his future action out several times, observing every possibility. Yes, this was how he would win. Just move his knight.  
And thus he moves it. And, when he does, his wife’s smile grows even wider.  
He blinks. “What? What is it?” He turns down to the chess board and now it hits him. “No!” he shouts, smacking his face with his hands and running them down his cheeks. “H-how didn’t I see that?”  
River chuckles as she moves her rook to checkmate position by the Doctor’s king. “Checkmate,” she says cheerfully.  
“How did…how did?” he stutters, his eyes flittering between River and the game. He jumps up from his seat and walks around the table so he can look at it at a better perspective. “How did I not see that?”  
River raises both of her hands from their former position on her lap in a gesture of “who knows?”  
And that is when the Doctor sees it.  
“River!” he shouts. He reaches for her quickly, but she clamps her hands down on top of his, pressing them down to her thigh.  
“Ah ah, Doctor,” she replies mischievously. “You shouldn’t touch a woman there before asking permission.”  
He flushes, but for only a moment. He wriggles his hand out from underneath hers. “You cheated!”  
She removes her hands, revealing her blue T.A.R.D.I.S. notebook lying closed on her lap. She picks it up and strokes its cover lovingly. “Now that depends on your definition of cheating. I mean, it’s still my words. I still won the game. Just with some help from myself.”  
“How did you even get that?” he asked, alarmed. “That’s mine! I mean, yeah, it’s kind of yours but it’s mostly mine!”  
She furrows her brow. “What are you talking about? This is my notebook.” She opens it up and flips to the last page with writing, where a wrinkled piece of paper sticks out. She takes it in her fingers and hands it to her husband, who grabs it hungrily and reads quickly. It contains a short breakdown of all of the Doctor’s move in the chess game they just completed, as well as a guide to the victory River just expertly performed. “How did you get this?”  
“When I woke up, it was just lying on my notebook. I read through it and thought it would be important, as I recognized it as my own handwriting.” She holds out her hand and the Doctor reluctantly places it in her palm. “So, I put it in my journal and voila! A few hours later we meet up rescuing a planet and you challenge me to this match. I merely utilized what information I have, or will have, or now have.”  
“But River…”  
“No buts!” she replies. “You lost, which means you have to give in to my demands.”  
The Doctor gulps. “Demands? River, please, you know that I’m not comfortable with—“  
“Not that,” the professor says, shaking her head. “Although we’ll have to try that again sometime when you’re less stiff about it.” Her words make her giggle. “Actually, I think we should keep you st—“  
“River please!” He begs.  
She laughs, shaking her head. “Fine, fine! But, still, my demands! According to this note, I am supposed to drop this off at my place at 5 A.M. today while you go change.”  
He blinks. “What am I changing into?”  
“Something nice,” she replies as she sets the vortex manipulator on her wrist. “I’ll be back in a bit, so hurry!”  
She zaps away and the Doctor, grumbling, leaves the library. He returns a few minutes later wearing a nice black suit and bowtie and top hat. River smiles at him and kisses his lips. She runs her hands over his chest. “You look great,” she breathes. “Now, let’s go! To the Towers of Darillium!”  
The Doctor’s world seemed to cave in. “W-what?”  
River takes a step back. She looks up at his worried face and rests her face on his cheek. “Come now, Doctor, I’ve been begging to go for months and you’ve always given me that face and said no. Well, now you have to listen to me, so let’s go.”  
The Doctor closes his eyes. He curls his hands into a fist, focusing all his power into making sure not a single tear escapes him. Darillium. Not Darillium. Anywhere but Darillium. Not the library.  
Not River…  
“Yeah, okay,” he says softly, opening his eyes again. He smiles weakly. “Let’s go.”  
She hits his chest playfully. “Cheer up! It was just a game. And if it makes you feel better, you technically won, but you still have to go with me. It’ll only be a few hours, so let’s have fun, okay, sweetie? We may not see each other for a while after this.”  
“Right.”  
**  
Seeing his past self in the T.A.R.D.I.S. didn’t help nor harm the Doctor. Yes, he had had fun at the Towers of Darillium with River, but yes he still knew this was the last time he would see her.  
She was leaning against the railing of a building, the Doctor’s current T.A.R.D.I.S. behind her. The Doctor approached her from behind her and wrapped her in a tight hug, kissing her cheek. She places her hand on his cheek and kisses him in return.  
“Isn’t the sunrise beautiful, sweetie?” she whispers.  
“Yeah, it is.”  
“You’ve seen hundreds of sunrises, haven’t you? Sunrises of planets where you saw three suns at the same time, one rising, one setting, and one still high in the sky. Sunrises I could never even dream of.”  
The Doctor smiles. He rests his head on her shoulder. “One day I’ll take you to see all those sunrises.”  
River laughs. “Really, Doctor?”  
“Yes, because you look so beautiful. Sunrises with you are the most beautiful of all. I will remember every single sunrise with you, from the very first to the very last.”  
“Well, I don’t know about you, Doctor, but this is my first sunrise with you.”  
“Is that so?” he replies. A tear slides from one of his eyes. “I spend every sunrise with you.”  
She laughs again and turns toward him, making him lift his head and face her head on. “Really, Doctor?” she asks, a tone of mockery in her voice.  
“You are always here to me,” he replies. Another tear gathers in his eye. “With sunrises and sunsets and nights and eclipses and moments when there is no time, you are with me.”  
River smiles and wipes his tears with her fingers. “You are a sentimental sap, husband.”  
“And you are untamable, wife.” He leans forward and kisses her passionately. When they release, he looks into her eyes and whispers, “why don’t we make the rest of tonight, or this morning, or whatever, yours, whatever you want.”  
She grins mischievously. “You’re going to regret saying that if I am really always with you.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all liked it! This is my first fic like this, so I don't really have any idea. It just seems really short, but it was really easy to write and I didn't have to think about it much, and I guess that's what a drabble is...? Or is that fluff? As you can see I don't know much about this, so any CC is welcome!


End file.
